It’s a normal day, just like any other. On a whim, you decide to check the KrisFlyer miles you currently have. And your normal day has just turned into a nightmare. You have miles that are about to expire! What’s more, the amount is too small for you to do anything with it. Such a criminal waste.

Or so you think.

We’re here to tell you how to turn this nightmarish scenario upside down! Here’s how you can use expiring or small amounts of KrisFlyer miles.

1. Convert your KrisFlyer miles to KrisPay miles

KrisPay is Singapore Airlines’ new digital wallet that allows you to convert small amounts or expiring air miles to KrisPay miles. 1 KrisFlyer mile is equivalent to 1 KrisPay mile. This doesn’t, however, mean that it is equal to S$1. In fact, you need 15 KrisPay miles to offset around S$0.10 per purchase.

Well, it’s simple really. All you need to do is download the KrisPay app and then transfer your air miles using the top-up function on the app. You can then use KrisPay miles to completely or partially offset purchases you make via participating merchants.

A few things to remember, though, are that converting air miles to KrisPay miles is an action that is not reversible and KrisPay miles are only valid for 6 months. And no, you cannot extend its validity.

The value you’re getting from KrisPay miles is dismal, but it’s better to use it than to let your miles expire in your account.

2. Extend your miles

This is probably the most obvious solution if you know for sure that you plan to travel soon. If you discover that your miles are about to expire, you can extend them for a fee.

There is a caveat, however. You can extend a set of expiring miles only once. KrisFlyer members can extend air miles for a period of 6 months and KrisFlyer Elite Silver and KrisFlyer Gold members can extend miles that are about to expire for 12 months. PPS Club members, on the other hand, do not have to worry about expiry of miles since KrisFlyer miles do not expire as long as you remain a PPS Club member.

As we mentioned earlier, this is a valid option only if you plan to travel within 6 months or a year and will make use of the miles. Otherwise, it is just a waste of money to extend your KrisFlyer miles and not use them.

And while this looks pretty straightforward, here’s the catch. To extend your miles for 6 months, you will have to apply for the extension 5 months before your miles are due to expire. So, if your KrisFlyer miles are due to expire at the end of October, you will have to apply for an extension at the beginning of May.

Here’s something else to keep in mind while extending your air miles. The fee is “per 10,000 miles or part thereof”. This means that whether you have 10,000 miles or lesser, you still pay $12. But what if you have 14,000 miles? Be prepared to pay $24 to extend the validity of those miles. $12 for the first 10,000 miles and another $12 for the remaining 4,000 miles.

So, what if you don’t want to extend your miles? Well, there are other ways to ensure that the miles you have earned do not go to waste.

Related: How to Book Cheap Flight Tickets for Your Vacations

3. Convert miles to TapForMore Points

If you have a PAssion Card and you shop at either Cold Storage, Guardian or Giant, you can consider converting your KrisFlyer miles to TapForMore Points. All you need to do are the following:

Log into your KrisFlyer account and select non-airline partner under the category tab.

Select Passion TapForMore from the drop-down list.

Key in your PAssion Card number and link it to your KrisFlyer account.

You can then convert your miles to points that can be redeemed at all Cold Storage, Giant, and Guardian stores in Singapore.

For every KrisFlyer mile you convert, you get around 1.1 points.

You do, however, require a minimum of 3,000 KrisFlyer miles to convert it to TapForMore points. This gives you around 3,300 TapForMore Points. Moreover, you can convert a maximum of 80,000 miles each calendar year and miles once converted, cannot be reversed.

4. Convert KrisFlyer miles to Shangri-La Golden Circle Points

Let’s start by saying that this isn’t a choice you can exercise if you have a small number of miles (since you require a minimum of 20,000).

Every 12 miles when converted, will give you 1 point. In a calendar year, you can convert 180,000 miles.

So, the question is why should you convert your expiring miles to Golden Circle Points? Well, look at the benefits you get:

Redeem Golden Circle Points for hotel stays at all Shangri-La hotels across the world.

Instant redemption of your points at over 500 Shangri-La restaurants with no vouchers required.

Golden Circle Jade members also can enjoy early check-in, late check-out, and daily breakfast among other privileges.

We know that not everyone wants to stay at the Shangri-La. Which is why KrisFlyer gives you the option to use your miles for other hotel bookings as well. And that brings us to another way to use expiring or small amounts of KrisFlyer miles.

5. Use it for hotel bookings and car rentals

Have miles that are about to expire? Or a few thousand miles remaining after redeeming your award ticket? With KrisFlyer vRooms, you can now use these miles (and cash if needed) to book a stay at a hotel or even rent a car.

KrisFlyer vRooms is a portal which allows you to use only miles or a combination of miles and cash to book a stay at over 30,000 participating hotels or to rent cars from reputed car rental brands.

Like with most of the other options we have already stated, there is a catch here as well. You need to have a minimum of 1,500 miles to use this service. What’s more, the cash to miles conversion rate isn’t fixed and differs from hotel to hotel. The same goes for car rental companies.

The other downside to this option is that if you are part of a hotel’s loyalty program and book your stay via KrisFlyer vRooms, you won’t earn loyalty points for the period of your stay.

But it’s still a great option if you have a few miles and don’t really want to travel outside Singapore. You could use it for a staycation at any one of the participating hotels!

This is also a great way for people who aren’t frequent fliers to use the KrisFlyer miles they have earned.

Read: 25 Free and Fun Things to Do in Singapore

6. Use your miles to shop

Did you know that you can use your KrisFlyer miles to indulge in a little retail therapy? Granted, your retail therapy needs to be restricted to krisshopair.com, but it’s still a great way to make sure that you make use of the miles that are lying in your account.

And as you have come to expect with all things remotely attached to credit card rewards, there are conditions. Each transaction is subject to a minimum of 1,000 KrisFlyer miles. How does that translate for you?

Well, the miles to cash conversion isn’t the best. Every 125 miles gives you approximately S$1 (and this is subject to change). So, 1,000 miles works out to only S$8. Still better than letting your miles languish, but not enough to get something substantial.

Another condition you need to keep in mind? Your KrisFlyer miles cannot be used to make any in-flight shopping transactions.

As you can see, there are quite a few ways by which you can use KrisFlyer miles that are about to expire or miles that are too little to be redeemed for a flight. To be honest, though, the value you get from them is quite mediocre and shockingly bad at times. Sometimes it’s not even worth the hassle.

Are there ways to escape this problem?

If you are wondering if there are ways by which you don’t really have to face this issue, then here are a few options:

Get yourself a credit card whose rewards do not expire, like the Citi PremierMiles Card. This way you can convert your Citi Miles to KrisFlyer miles when you know that you may be taking a trip soon.

You could try becoming a PPS Club member by accumulating S$25,000 in PPS Value within a year. It would be safe for us to assume that as a PPS Club member, you are a frequent traveller. So, you can earn even more miles that never expire by using The American Express Singapore Airlines PPS Club Credit Card.

The bottom line is that expiring or small amounts of KrisFlyer miles shouldn’t mean all doom and gloom. There are ways to use them and quite frankly, it does take a little effort and some decision making on your part. It’s up to you to decide if you want to make your unused KrisFlyer miles go the extra mile!

Read also:

Where Can You Go With Your KrisFlyer Miles?

7 Credit Card Privileges You Need to Start Using When You Travel

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